Filmmaker James Cameron has the eyesight of an eagle when it comes to finding talent for his films. If you have seen his movies, you will certainly agree that every character is cast to perfection as if they were born to play the role. Something similar happened while choosing the ensemble for his 1994 action-comedy, True Lies.
Despite the controversies surrounding actor Tom Arnold thanks to his relationship with ex-wife Roseanne Barr, James Cameron knew the actor was his guy. And thus, the filmmaker decided that he would not be taking no for an answer, no matter how much Fox Studios pushed back. Finally, the 20th Century Fox gave in and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Harry Tasker found his side-kick, Albert Gibson.
James Cameron Was Not Giving Up on Tom Arnold
After directing back-to-back masterpieces including The Abyss and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, James Cameron was on every studio’s priority list. Cameron, however, decided to go with 20th Century Fox for his next film, True Lies, which ended up being a great decision for both the director and the film studio.
Since Cameron was riding high on the waves of success, he was in a position where he could make any and all of his wishes come true. Using one of his wishes, the Titanic director told the studios that he wanted Tom Arnold to play the third lead in True Lies, thus sending the company into a frenzy.
Since Arnold was a PR horror at the time, Fox tried to push back as much as they could, of course to no avail. Talking to Alan Siegel during James Cameron: An Oral History, Arnold recalled how Fox reacted to Cameron’s decision.
“He went in there and said ‘We found the third guy after Jamie Lee [Curtis] and Arnold [Schwarzenegger].’ And they’re like, ‘That’s fantastic news, Jim. Who is it?’ He said, ‘It’s Tom Arnold.’ And they’re like, ‘That’s horrible news!’”
“Thanks for coming by”: James Cameron Almost Saw No Hope In Hiring Leonardo DiCaprio In Cult Classic
When the studios tried to explain how Arnold was doing in the tabloids at that time, Cameron quickly dismissed their arguments. Arnold continued,
“They said, ‘Well, don’t you read the tabloids? I don’t think he’s done much. He’s crazy. You read it.’ And Jim Cameron, to his credit – this is the best thing anybody’s ever done for me – he said, ‘No, I don’t read the tabloids. But I wrote this and he is the guy.'”
Even though Cameron kept persisting, the studios were not willing to give him the green light on his casting call. That is until the director pulled out the big guns and threatened to take True Lies away from Fox and give it to Paramount instead. Needless to say, he got his wish fulfilled.
James Cameron Was an Inspiration on the Set
Continuing the discussion for the Oral History, actor Danny Nucci chimed in saying that if the world was ending, he would probably want to stick close to Cameron who would know exactly how to handle any situation.
Arnold continued the praise for the filmmaker stating that he was an absolute inspiration to work with. Even when action star Arnold Schwarzenegger would be unsure about performing certain stunts, Cameron would take it in his own hands to prove that its quite doable.
“Jim Cameron, he’s a rawboned, 6-foot-3 f**king Canadian dude, man. He’s ready to go. And part of the reason for his success is because he is that guy. If he tells Arnold, ‘I want you to go down this escalator, jump over, do that,’ and Arnold looks at it and goes, ‘Boy, I don’t know if I could do it,’ he goes, ‘OK. I’ll do it.’ He’ll do it. There is nothing that he won’t do. And it inspires you.”
No wonder Cameron is one of the best and most sought-after filmmakers in Hollywood today. His hands-on participation in his films is what makes them truly stand out in the crowd.
True Lies is available to rent/buy or Prime Video.
